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Tears roll down my cheeks yet again as I cry out to God. I have mourned my sin, turned to Christ for forgiveness, but the shame remains.
Days turn to months turn to years, and I am unable to find peace.
Feeling shame after sinning against a Holy God is good. Feeling the depths of the pain of offending your Father is right.
Continuing in these feelings is a sign of a larger issue.
If you have sought forgiveness from God and anyone else involved in your sin, but still find yourself drowning in shame you may actually be struggling with a lack of faith in God’s promises.
Hide in Shame No Longer
In the presence of a Holy God, our fallen nature is to hide from Him in shame (Genesis 3:7-10), yet the Gospel changes everything.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
He is faithful, mama. His words are true. If Christ has made you a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), then you are a new creation indeed. God no longer sees your guilt, but Christ’s righteousness (Romans 4:22-25).
“When God sees faith in Christ, he sees union with Christ. And when he sees union with Christ, he sees the righteousness of Christ as our righteousness.”
Instead of hiding, “we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming” (1 John 2:28).
Let us have confidence in Christ’s sufficient work on the cross!
Fight Shame with Humility
Lingering in shame reveals a lack of confidence in this work. It may also suggest you are placing the burden on yourself – that you think you are capable of placing yourself in a right standing before God in your own power.
Humble yourself before the cross. You are unable to rend the veil standing before you and the Holy of Holies (Matthew 27:51).
“Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life, hoping ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us. Our part is to yield and trust. We must confess, forsake, repudiate the self-life, and then reckon it crucified.” – The Pursuit of God (pg 43)
When you approach the cross humbly, recognizing your low standing and utter inability to become righteous on your own, you will find the strength of the power of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Repeat the promises of God to your shame-filled heart. God is greater than your sin and shame. He is greater than your unbelief. His work is sufficient and He is faithful to His promises.
“By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.” 1 John 3:19-20
So SO good! Clinging to God’s grace is the only way to let go of sin for good. Beautiful post! Blessings!!
So true, shame is easy to get trapped in but God’s truth takes away all our shame. I also think of Romans 8:1 when I need truth in this area. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
This was a blessing, thank you so much! So well said, very succint and to the point. I really needed this and I’m going to copy some comments you said and put on my wall to help me remember.
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